Carmelo Anthony is often referred to as the NBA’s best pure scorer. If there is any player who could challenge him for that title, it’s Kevin Durant, who, in fact, owns the NBA’s scoring title and has for three seasons.

At the moment, though, it is Anthony who is poised to challenge Durant. A late push from Anthony has the potential to threaten Durant’s chances of becoming the first player to win four consecutive scoring titles since Michael Jordan, who won seven in a row. Surprisingly, in advance of a Thursday showdown with the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder star appeared indifferent when the subject was broached.

Anthony has made a strong case in the past two games, scoring 50 points in a win over the Miami Heat and posting 40 a night later against the Atlanta Hawks, all on 35-for-53 shooting. Durant led the NBA with a 28.3-point average entering Thursday. Anthony is right behind at 28.1.

These recent performances were the most eye-catching, but Anthony's stellar play dates to his return from a knee injury that forced him to miss six games in an eight-game span. In their last nine games, the Knicks have benefited from 31.4 points per game and 48.1 percent shooting from Anthony, both big factors in their their 10-game winning streak.

Durant, as lethal a scorer as there is, seemed awestruck by what Anthony has accomplished.

“I mean, the stuff he’s doing right now, every time he touches the ball it looks like it’s going to go in,” Durant said. “He’s having a nice run right now and his confidence is high. I’m sure he’s going to take over. If it happens, cool.”

Anthony has yet to win a scoring title in his 10-year career, despite the fact he’s averaged more than 25 points in six of those seasons.

“I coached Carmelo for three years (as an assistant coach at Denver), that’s probably not something that he wants,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “He wants the championship just as much as KD does.”

The Thunder and Knicks both have eight games left on their schedule, and neither side seems interested in resting players. Oklahoma City has no plans to rest anyone as it attempts to supplant the Spurs atop the Western Conference standings. New York, which holds a half-game lead on the Indiana Pacers for the second seed in the East, is in a similar position.

Durant has a chance to become the first player to shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3 and 90 percent from the line, and win the scoring title in the same season. That gives him an incentive to force the issue in some instances, but he says he has no intention of doing so.

“Don’t get me wrong, I never want to take stuff like that for granted, but if it happens, it happens,” Durant said. “I’m just going to play my game. I’m not going to force it too much and think about it too much and try to get it. But if it’s meant to be then it will happen.”